HTC Watch movie download service to shut across Europe, UK unaffected

HTC is to shut down its movie rental and purchase service, HTC Watch, in several countries across Europe.

The company has confirmed that the service will close its doors before the end of May in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. However, HTC Watch will remain active in the UK, with the company saying it is taking such measures to concentrate on key regions that are making money. It will shut those that are not.

In a statement sent to Pocket-lint, HTC said that the countries with the least amount of interest in its movie store will no longer have access to it from 31 May. "As we continue to deliver new content for HTC Watch, we've made the decision to focus our efforts on markets with the highest engagement. After May 31, we'll discontinue support for HTC Watch in countries with less application traffic," it said.

HTC Watch was launched in 2011 and its main benefit, alongside the ability to rent and buy films and TV shows to view on a HTC handset, is that you can stream the DRM-protected content to a TV through the company's Media Link HD peripheral.